The Girl in the Cloak

...Madness

Shrill laughter hit her ears. The sound was menacing in nature and felt like it came from every direction. Fa had tied the girls cloak around her neck. It was all she could do as she dodged each of Ordik's devastating attacks. He was not as fast as she had remembered. Behind her on the ground was Luna. She was out cold and didn't seem to hear the destressing laugh that Fa could.

"Sounds like someone is having fun over there, doesn't it." Ordik stood tall before Fa-Lees. His daunting strength loomed over her as she looked for an escape root. She wasn't positive, but she thought she recognized the laughter as Rains.

"She needs her cloak," Fa said under her breath to herself as if someone else was listening.

"What was that you're going to have to speak up my dear Fa-Lees. You something Fa? I was thinking, you would make a great general. It would be a shame to waste such a skilled person as yourself. You could pledge yourself to me. You would have to do anything I asked of you but, I could guarantee you an army of your own. I have massive plans and I need a General I could trust to be as ruthless as you are."

"Ruthless?" Fa had not expected a turn of events such as these. It made sense though, he had been trying to conquer lands in the other realms. She had witnessed that on her journey here. "What makes you think I am ruthless?" She started to circle around the Horric Prince who didn't budge at all.

"I know of your exploits. You have destroyed entire villages by yourself, or is that different Fa-Lees?" Ordik did not stop to let her answer. "The very Fa-Lees that slaughtered an entire family because her commander said they were terrorists aiming for the chief?" This time he paused and stared at Fa waiting. She didn't reply. He continued. "The first of her kind to succeed in fending off the 'ascended ones'? The vary Fa-Lees that was to busy as a general to keep an eye on her daughter who snuck off to adventure?" Fa felt caught in her throat at the final statement he threw at her. It dug into her being like she was sure it was intended to. She paused in her circling and looked him up and down. If she hadn't known any better she would have thought this was a serious offer. "What Fa? I know it must seem like a strange time to offer such a thing, but if we fight you will die. So the proposal comes first." He turned to look at her and held out a hand. "Can you pledge your allegiance to me and help me ascend to king?" Only then did the proposal truly set in with her. Ordik wanted to attack his own father and become king of the Horric. It was an outlandish idea that would take the largest army the realms had ever seen. She couldn't help but contemplate the strange offer.

"You want me to be one of your generals?" Just as Ordik was reading his response the manic laughter pierced the air again. Instinctively she looked to her right. She was only a few feet from the stairs that led to Rain. She whipped her head back to the eyes of the prince. They had changed as he caught on to what she was trying to do. Fa dashed to the stairs with all she had. Down on the lower landing stood Rain over the Horric prince of the abyss stomping away as she laughed frantically. Behind her, she could feel Ordik charging her. The offer had been rescinded. She jumped, barely missing the hit of the prince of war, and landed on the girl she claimed as a daughter. She removed the cloak from her own neck. As Rain struggled underneath her weight she placed the cloak where it had always belonged. She just finished when she felt the contact against her temple. Ordik's kick sent her into the wall. She felt her neck snap as she hit it full force and fell limp to the ground.